Peter Stevinson

Drawing and Printmaking

What made you want to join Art Gym?  The lucky thing is that I have a direct relation to the Art Gym.  Aside from that, being a part of a community setting is important.  I think Art Gym does a good job to ensure that artists have the capability to collaborate, conversate, and gain insight from each other.  Despite the different mediums that people work with, there's always a sense of camaraderie when artists are together and everyone is always willing to help each other.  Plus it feels good to be working amongst other artists.

How has Art Gym helped with your art practice?  Collaboration with fellow artists (through critiques and working through issues that arise with my work) has been super beneficial.  There have been many of times I’ve asked another artist working for a quick critique or bounce ideas of them.  The staff is very helpful in providing resources and assistance with tools and learning/practicing new mediums.

What are you hoping to communicate through your work?  I love critical thinking and strive to ensure my artwork allows the viewer to come up with their own narrative.  I believe art should help start the basis of conversations and I try to draw from experiences from my life.  While the viewer may not necessarily understand what I'm trying to convey, I love hearing how they interpret my art.  It gets them to think of their relation/their ideas with my images.

Who and/or what are some of your biggest artistic influences?
Comic books are the biggest artistic influence with my art (and pretty much everything I do); I think being influenced by such a narrative art form, it helped provide the basis for an understanding of giving the viewer enough information to come up with their own stories/draw their own conclusions.  I recently got into printmaking and I would honestly say that the bulk of the print members have been super influential in helping me learn a new craft.  My dear friend Johanna Mueller influences me by keeping me motivated and talking through art droughts as they arise and Gregory Santos (Art Gym Director of Printmaking) has been influential in teaching me new techniques/providing feedback.

What does your artwork mean to you?  My artwork means so much to me!  I feel lost when I’m not creating – it helps me get through the issues in my life and work through problems that are occurring in my day-to-day life.